


unexpected surprises

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Rose Universe [9]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, mentions of a hostage situation, not detailed just mentioned as part of the prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27917341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: It's not the way Maddie had seen the day going but there they are, barely a month after they had decided to start trying for a baby, being told it's going to be happening a lot sooner than they had planned.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Rose Universe [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951450
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t an average day at the hospital and definitely not the one she had been imagining when she had made her way to work that morning. Even as she’s lying in the hospital bed, playing with her engagement ring as she twists it around her finger, she can’t quite believe it happened. She could remember kissing Rose and Chimney goodbye, as they both snuggled up to each other in the bed, with the promise that they absolutely would be up for school in time about two hours after she left them. She could remember driving to work, picking up coffee for her and Josh on the way before it had just been a normal shift.

The early shift on a Friday morning always left them with the drunks still recovering from the night before and a few stragglers here and there. Nothing really picked up until the morning commute was over and then everything changed. It’s all a blur of guns and blood and shouting and people crying around her whilst they tried to focus on saving the life of a man who probably didn’t deserve to be saved. Maddie tries not to think about how they would have tried just as hard to keep him alive had he been wheeled in on his own, without friends yielding guns and demanding they help.

It was meant to be a twelve hour shift but she’s back in her fiancé’s arms barely seven hours after her shift started and she can remember feeling relief and then… well, then she had woken up to a panicked Chimney screaming her name probably a minute later.

That was how Maddie had found herself lying in the hospital bed, with the man sitting silently next to her with a terrified look on his face as she imagines he’s running through all the worst case scenarios in her head. They’d been lucky, every single person in the ER that day had made it out alive and relatively uninjured. The worst had been Josh, who had taken the butt of a gun to the side of his head and Dr Wilson had been knocked out from a punch. Maddie had made it through with additional psychological scars and a bruise to the side of her face after she had faltered in her working on the gun shot victim they had brought into the ER, to check on her best friend.

And then she had fainted when she was safe in the arms of the man she loves more than anything whilst he waited outside of her after hearing the news.

Of course, she knows it’s probably stress, maybe dehydration or over-exertion. There are about a dozen reasons that she could have fainted and none of them are as deathly terrifying as the look on Chimney’s face implies right then. His grip on her leg is tight, as she continues to twist the ring around her finger, trying not to think about the way his hands are trembling because she knows that for as long as she had thought she wouldn’t see him and Rose again, he’d have felt the same about her. Waiting outside, not knowing what was going on inside.

“You know it’s been a long day,” It sounds like a strange thing to say at one in the afternoon as she chews down on her bottom lip, staring at the man as he sits there in his uniform, looking as though he’s aged about ten years since she had kissed him goodbye that morning. “It was probably the adrenaline and the stress, I still had his blood on my hands and I had… before SWAT came in, he had the gun pointed at me and I really thought—it was probably the relief of seeing you again and…”

Her words haven’t helped whatever the hell is going through his mind right then because his eyes are wide when he glances up at her and his grip even tighter as his hands begin to tremble. “Maddie,” She looks up at the introduction of a familiar voice, smiling when she sees Dr Blevins walking into the room. She hadn’t worked with her much but had gotten a little tipsy with her at the Christmas party the year before. “can I talk to you alone?”

The doctor is glancing at Chimney, causing Maddie’s nose to scrunch up when she finally moves to take his hand in her own, “No, no, it’s okay. Whatever you have to say you can say in front of him. It doesn’t matter.”

She steps a little further into the room and Maddie wishes she could read her face a lot better because she can’t tell whether she’s about to tell her she can go home with probably a slap on the hand for low blood pressure or something menial or whether she’s about to admit her into the hospital with something severe. Instead, she takes a breath and offers Maddie a smile, “We got the results of your blood test back. You’re a little anaemic, not too concerning but still something to keep an eye on and… you’re pregnant.”

Maddie _almost_ bursts out laughing, as her brows furrow because it’s not possible. Sure, she and Chimney had been a little lacklustre on the protection for the past two weeks under the preconceived notion that, at her age, ‘trying’ for a baby would take a lot longer. Of course, they were medical professionals and they both knew that just once was enough but Maddie hadn’t thought it would be quite that easy.

They’d been engaged for three months and things had naturally progressed as Chimney opened up more and eventually they’d decided there was no harm in trying. It would take a while. They still had time.

She hasn’t noticed that neither her or Chimney have said a word until Sue is talking to them again and Maddie gulps, looking up at her, “Do you know when your last period was? I’ve booked you in for a scan upstairs, so if you don’t—”

“I’ve only… I’ve been off the pill for two weeks, I-I don’t… are you sure?”

The woman smiles kindly, “Blood tests can be wrong, you know that. They’re expecting you upstairs in ten minutes.” It was funny, how many strings could be pulled because not only does she work in the hospital but a traumatic event had just led to the ER being closed down for the day and patients being diverted elsewhere. But still, she doesn’t take any time to question it as she swings her legs over the edge of the bed and looks at Chimney, hoping he’s still in the room with her and not too overwhelmed.

“Thank you.” She nods her head, watching as she walks out of the room before Maddie turns to the man she was planning to marry in just a few months. “We don’t know until we know, right? And… we’ve only been trying for a few weeks, okay? I-It’s going to be okay… right?” She needs to hear him say something because even before the news was delivered, she can’t actually remember the last time she had heard him speak.

Chimney is slow to nod his head, “Y-yeah, we don’t know until we know. Not like we weren’t… trying. But… would the blood test even—”

It’s with a shrug that Maddie holds out her hand for him, “Increased hCG levels don’t necessarily mean I’m pregnant, hence the scan. Let’s just… be thankful we don’t have to wait too long to find out. Just tell me you’re still with me, please? Just—are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay. Like you said, we don’t know anything right now. And this is better than all the things I was imagining.” His cheeks flush in embarrassment as he scratches the back of his neck and Maddie bites down on her bottom lip, feeling overwhelming relief when his hand moves into hers and squeezes it tightly.

“Let’s do this.”


	2. Chapter 2

Maddie couldn’t lie to herself or to Chimney and say she hadn’t imagined this a thousand times before but the reality was even more terrifying than anything she could have imagined. She doesn’t know whether to focus on the screen or on Chimney’s face because the thought of pushing him too far, too soon is the only thought that consumes her right then. She can’t stop the way her eyes flick from potentially seeing their baby, back to Chimney’s face and then to the screen before her fiancé smiles at her and leans forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.”

The only thing that forces her eyes from his is the sound of a heart beating, rapidly and loudly as it echoes around the room and she tilts her head towards the screen as she bites down on her lip. It’s not what she had expected, not even slightly because the baby is—well, there’s definitely a baby in her stomach and it’s definitely been there longer than two weeks. Her heart thumps uncomfortably against her chest as grips Chimney’s hand a little tighter, feeling his clammy palms against her own.

“Well, you’re definitely pregnant, baby is measuring at about twelve weeks,” The woman doesn’t look away from the screen as she talks and Maddie chews down on her bottom lip, just staring at their baby. There’s a head and a tiny body with legs and—that’s _their_ baby. Perfectly aligned to around about the time they got engaged and she shouldn’t be surprised, not really. A lot of wine had been consumed around that time and it was easy to forget something quite as important as a small pill when she was so wrapped up in everything that was Chimney and their engagement.

Maddie’s not sure she can hear anything the sonographer is saying over the sound of her heart pumping the blood around her body, pulsating in her ears as she watches her point at the little feet and hands and she can just about make out that the baby is a healthy size and really, that’s all anyone wants to hear considering she hadn’t even been aware there was a baby in there in the first place. A Christmas baby, she roughly calculates in her head, they’re going to be having a Christmas baby and suddenly all she can think about is Rose and if she’s going to be okay with sharing her favourite holiday (apart from her birthday) with someone else as she gulps down the lump in her throat.

And then it’s over and they’re leaving the room, clutching at a small card that contains two glimpses of their child and Maddie isn’t too sure she knows what to say. She’s happy, she knows that much but it’s been a long day, full of fresh trauma and memories she knows she won’t be able to forget for a long time, if ever. Alleviated only by the fact she’d heard a little heart beating inside of her, whilst terrified that something awful could have happened today and the precious life she hadn’t known existed is suddenly more terrifying than she ever could have imagined.

“A-are you happy?” She finally asks, almost regretting the question the second it falls from her lips because he’s not acting as though he is but she also knows he’s reflective, silent in the times he’s thinking the hardest and that’s not necessarily always a negative outcome. It’s just hard to get used to when she’s so often the one who says what she’s thinking out loud because years of silence hadn’t gotten her anywhere. “I know it’s sooner than we anticipated and—way before we even decided to start trying, I-I should have—I should have been more careful or I should have known. I haven’t… I haven’t had any morning sickness and I can’t say I’ve had any of the symptoms I would have expected but I guess I’ve been busy, too… with the wedding planning and work and we’ve spent a lot of time with friends over the last few months, so I must have—I guess I may have missed some of the signs, I um—”

“I am happy, I’m just—shocked. I thought—I thought you were hurt or worse just a few hours ago and now—it’s just a lot of information to process, I just need to run through it in my head and—I’m happy though, are you?” She’s glad he’s interrupted her incessant need to fill the silence because she’s entirely certain the rambling could have continued for at least the next ten minute as they walk towards the elevator.

Maddie smiles, nodding her head as she opens up the item in her hand and stares at the tiny baby growing inside of her. “I-I’m happy, just nothing about this day has gone as I expected. It’s—I thought I wouldn’t make it home to you and Rose a few hours ago and now I know there was something else to lose and… I didn’t even know it at the time but now it’s—it’s scarier, I guess.” She’s grateful at the arm that wraps around her waist as they step into the elevator, her head resting on his shoulder as she takes a breath, trying not to burst into tears as she focuses on the baby she’d always wanted.

“Kinda looks like a pickle.” Chimney finally mumbles, lips pressed against her temple as he lifts his other hand to take one of the sonograms from her. “Hey, Pickle.”

“Okay, no, we are not calling the baby Pickle.” Maddie pouts as she tilts her head to look up at him, “Jellybean is cuter because look, she looks more like a jellybean than she does a pickle.”

“She?”

Chimney is looking at her with a small smirk and a raised brow, although his eyes are still filled with unshed tears as they had been when he’d first wrapped his arms around her after she’d been escorted out of the hospital doors when it was finally over. “I have a feeling… I wouldn’t mind either way. Just healthy and happy.” She sighs as she wraps her own arm around his waist, snuggling into his side that little bit more, “Do you think we can keep this between the two of us for now? Just until we have time to process?”

She can feel the relief in his body and feel the way he’s nodding as his grip on her tightens, “I think that’s a great idea, I just… I need to hold you tonight, okay?” Maddie can’t help but feel glad when they’re walking out of the hospital, her grip on him tightening at the sight of all the crime scene tape around the entrance of the ER as they head towards her car.

“Is Rose home?”

“In a few hours, Hen’s got her for now.”

Maddie takes a breath, feeling the tears starting to spill over when she nods her head, her chest tight, glad she has time to break down before she has to feign strength in front of their daughter so not to terrify her. “That’s good—” She whispers, torn between wanting to hold the little girl when she’d thought she may never get the chance again and just wanting to snuggle into Chimney and let the emotions of the day out. He must sense it before it happens, he always does, both his arms moving to wrap around her body tightly as he pulls her as close to his body as she can possibly get before the sobs start.

“I know, it’s okay… you’re okay. I’ve got you, Maddie. I’ve got you.”

There’s strength in his voice, although she can feel his own tears on the top of her head as he talks and she tightens her own grip on him in response. He loves her in a way she’s never been loved before and she finally feels safe enough to bring a child into the world with someone who she knows is a fantastic father already. They can celebrate later, when they’re both ready but right then, his arms around her is everything she needs to feel as though she’s home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chimney is still processing. It’s a lot to take in and perhaps it would be too much if he weren’t surrounded by so much love and goodness. No one outside of the two of them know about the pregnancy but everyone knew about the hostage situation at the hospital. Everyone knew that he’d once again been left with the thought that the woman he loved might not make it. It’s illogical but it just feels as though every single woman that comes into his life, ends up dying. His mom. Rose’s mom. Maddie. Who was very much alive but he’d come close _twice_ and he’s barely known her two years.

Now there’s a baby growing inside of her, _his_ baby… their baby, and now there’s more to lose than ever before. Still, despite everything, he can’t help but smile when he thinks of a daughter or a son with Maddie’s eyes and his nose. He can still remember the first time Rose smiled, the first time she laughed, crawled, walked… all the joy he had found in those moments and he can’t wait to experience them with somebody by his side.

The smile only grows when his phone lights up with a call from Mrs Lee, knowing she’d spent the day with Rose which means he’s about to hear what a great day she had with the little girl who considers them to be her grandparents. “Hi, Mrs Lee.”

“Howard.”

There’s concern in her voice on the other end of the phone, the kind that makes his heart drop and a tension in his stomach to grow. It’s only his name but he’s used to the woman who had brought him up since he was almost fifteen-years-old, rambling on about all the great stuff they did that day. His anxiety only grows when he can hear his daughter in the background because he’s sure that Maddie was meant to pick her up an hour ago. “Is everything okay?” He finally asks, his grip on the steering wheel tightening as he tries to stay focused on the road, wondering if he needs to turn around and head back towards the Lees house to pick Rose up.

“Maddie called, she didn’t sound too good and I know she’s not been back at work since that awful incident… I told her we’ll take Rose for the night. But… just get home as soon as possible, okay?” She’s worried, he can tell by the tone of her voice and he knows that Maddie had been throwing up that morning and they’d just assumed it was morning sickness. Delayed, yes but probably elevated by the stress of the past week. “We’ve got Rose, it’s been a while since our last sleepover. Just give us a call in the morning to let us know if you need more time, okay?”

“Love you, daddy!” Can be heard in the background, and he laughs despite the anxiety running through him right then, nodding his head as he takes a breath.

“Thank you, I’m on my way home now.” He wants to make excuses, he wants to say something that will let Mrs Lee know that Maddie is going to be okay but not telling her that she’s pregnant feels like a lie and he’s never been good at lying to the woman who had been his mom’s best friend. “Tell Rosie I love her, too and I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

There’s silence when the phone call ends, just for a moment until the radio starts back up again and he’s lost in his thoughts as he pushes down on the gas pedal a little more. It had been a long week and he’d only gone back to work that day because he was silently already worrying about money with two kids. The apartment was too small, only two bedrooms and maybe they could get away with it for the first year but—they’d need somewhere new to live, somewhere bigger and he knew that it was exactly what Maddie wanted (and was hinting at) but it was a big step. It meant selling the apartment that Rose had grown up in, saying goodbye to all of those memories, to the marks on the wall that had shown her growing over the last four years and to the scuff marks over the floor where she’d ridden her trike inside. It meant letting go of the good memories he’d had, as well as the bad and he wasn’t sure he was ready. Not yet.

Chimney scrambles to get out of the car when he pulls up outside of his apartment building, the memory of doing so over four years ago with Hen by his side and a crying baby in his arms suddenly fresh in his mind, a thought that causes him to pause in his tracks for only a second. He’ll be doing it all over again in six months time, but it won’t be his best friend by his side, it’ll be the woman he loves more than he ever thought possible. They’ll have Rose, who has no idea she’s going to be a big sister but still talks about it all the time anyway and he knows she’ll be fantastic. And he has no doubt that Maddie will be a wonderful mother, he’s seen her with Rose enough to know that she’s going to be amazing.

He just hopes he can live up to it. To them.

But first, Maddie. He needs to make sure that she’s okay, even if he’s not feeling one hundred percent there yet. The ride in the elevator seems longer than normal, leaving him to his thoughts as he tries to imagine what she’s going to look like when her belly pops, how much she’s going to glow when the stress of what happened last week is no longer a fresh memory. If he can be half the parent that he knows she’s going to be, at least that’ll be enough.

He makes a note to himself to book in another therapy session, both for himself and then make sure Maddie has one with hers before she even thinks about going back to work. He half wonders how she’d feel about him wrapping her in bubble wrap for at least the next six months. Or the next eighteen years.

“Maddie?” He calls out, the second he opens the door, frowning at the box of tissues, the hot water bottle and the blanket that have been discarded on the couch with no sign of his fiancée. “Maddie?” Chimney throws his bag on the floor, sliding out of his jacket before he heads further into the apartment, grimacing at the silence because his apartment is _never_ quiet between Maddie and Rose.

“Sweetheart?” Still silence on the other end and he lets his mind get carried away for just a second until he pushes open the door of the bathroom, not sure if anything else could break his heart quite as much as the sight of Maddie, curled up, fast asleep on the bathroom floor. He doesn’t want to wake her, although he knows he has to because she can’t just sleep on the cold, hard floor for the rest of the night but he’s slow to approach her, kneeling down to press a hand to her forehead, frowning at the feverish feeling of her skin against his. “Baby,” He whispers, brushing her hair from her face as softly as he can, “let me carry you to bed, can’t be comfortable.“

Chimney keeps his voice low, forcing a smile on his lips when her eyes flutter open with a groan, “Fell asleep.”

“I can see that.” He lets out a laugh, that sounds about as forced as his smile probably looks but she doesn’t call him out on it, only reaching her arms out for him so he can lift her with relative ease despite their slightly awkward positioning. “I’ve got you, I’m right here.” His lips are quick to press against her nose, and then up to her forehead before she snuggles a little more into him, her grip on him tight as he moves to carry her towards their bedroom.

Everything is still, silent. It has been for the last week, with Rose easily picking up on the mood and having spent it just snuggling Maddie and reading her stories from her favourite books. But still, it’s not quite the loud, happy apartment he’s used to coming home to.

They’re still processing, he’s quick to remind himself as he settles her on the bed and presses a kiss to her cheek.

It’s a lot to take in for both of them. Tentatively, his hand presses against her stomach, a genuine smile on his face this time when the simple gesture makes Maddie grin at him. It won’t be quiet forever. Definitely not in six months.

. 

Chimney smiles the second he hears the soft footsteps of his fiancée as she walks into the kitchen, mid-yawn and rubbing her eyes as she does. “Hey, I was going to bring you some tea in bed and some toast if you’re feeling up to it?” As if on cue, the sound of the toaster can be heard as Maddie nods her head, a hand settling on her stomach.

“I am pretty hungry.” He smiles when she takes a step towards him, just as he finishes buttering the toast, turning only to press the back of his hand to her forehead, the smile on his lips only growing when the fever that had been there the night before is non-existent. It’s with apprehension that he lets his hand move down next to her hand, delicately placed on her stomach as though he’s afraid of hurting her.

Her eyes glance down at his hand, biting down on her lip, until she tilts her head forward to press her forehead to his shoulder. “I still can’t believe there’s a whole life growing inside of you right now.” Chimney finally whispers, breaking the silence, only dropping his hand from her stomach when her arms snake around his neck and he wraps his around her waist, pulling her as close as he can. “Listen, I know we’ve had a difficult few months before and I know that what happened last week—I know it’s been difficult but you can talk to me, you know that, right? You can tell me anything.”

Chimney can feel the wall she’s been building around herself, gradually but more visible since everything that had happened the week before. And he gets it, but he doesn’t want them to get to the same place they had been a few months before he had got some help, only reversed with her not talking and him desperate to listen. His grip on her tightens, seemingly prompting a response from her when she snuggles a little further into him, fingers grazing through his hair, “I know. I just… I don’t want to push you too much, too far… too quickly, you know? I don’t—you’ve been working so hard in therapy and I know this was sooner than we expected. I don’t want to say or do the wrong thing.”

Even though he had suspected as much, it still causes a pain in his chest to hear the words falling from her lips. He hates that she would ever feel that way, even though he knows he’s given her reason to in the past and he’s sure he will in the future, too, when the baby nerves take over but she’s right there with him. Probably feeling the same way he is, half the time. It’s just—amazing to know he’s a part of this pregnancy and she wants his opinion and she likes it when he presses his hand to her stomach and he wants to be able to talk to her about names and if she thinks they’re going to have a daughter or a son. He’s going to be _there_ for this pregnancy which is more than he ever had with Rose, so it’s easier. It was an accident, but not a surprise. They’d been trying, it just turned out that she was already pregnant when they had made that decision. But it’s also terrifying, in its own right and he’s having a hard time distinguishing between normal dad-to-be fears and… his own fears.

“I’d rather you talk to me than keep it all inside. We both know how that ends up.” Maddie’s nose scrunches up in response when she pulls back to look at him and he leans into her touch when her hand presses to his cheek. He’d been through his own trauma with Rose but she had been through hell and back with her husband. It was a miracle he even got to hold her in his arms in the first place and he felt privileged every single day that she trusted him like she did. The last thing in the world he wants is for that trust to disappear because she’s afraid of hurting him. “So, do you want to talk?”

“I love you,” Both his hands press to either side of his face when she talks, lips pressing against her nose, “I know I need to get better at opening up, especially when I was practically begging you to do the same thing a few months ago. I will. But I am happy, we’re having a baby.” The smile on her face is just always the most beautiful smile he’s ever seen, her eyes sparkling with joy.

His lips are against hers for a moment until the sound of her stomach gurgling forces him to pull back, “I love you too and I’m happy. More than happy. I’ll pop some more bread on for you—can’t have you eating cold toast now, can we?” He laughs when she does, the sound always filling him with more happiness than he could have ever imagined. Between her and Rose… and now their future son or daughter, he had so much happiness in his life when he had never thought it possible.

“Thank you.” Chimney can only smile when she presses her hand back to her stomach, and he knows she’s coming to terms with it as well because it was everything she had wanted and she hadn’t seen it coming. Not in the way it had but it was an eventuality. They had decided to bring a child into the world together and didn’t regret that decision in the slightest. It was just… scary and different and everything he had once wanted but had pushed aside in the knowledge that Rose had been the best decision he’d had no say or control over.

But despite the ups and the downs of single fatherhood, he wouldn’t change it for the world if it was the only way he could have his daughter just the way she was. His task at making Maddie breakfast is made awkward when she wraps an arm around his waist and dips her head under his arm when he wraps an arm around her shoulder and tilts his head to the side to press his kiss to her head. But still, he knows she needs the contact, that she likes to feel him close to her and he can’t complain, even if buttering toast one handed is a difficult task.

“I think we should tell Rose first.” She finally announces, “Not yet because she’s four and we can’t expect her to understand that it’s a secret. But I-I think we should tell her first and then um, I’d like to tell the Lees and my brother at the same time, if that’s okay?” He nods in agreement, “And then we can tell everyone else but um, I know things are difficult between you and Rose’s grandparents, so maybe you should let them know, too. Or just let Lindsay know and she can talk to them.” Again, he nods, Rose’s Aunt had been amazing from the very beginning, always willing to help and never holding anything against him or over his head, unlike her parents.

He holds the piece of toast to her lips, grinning when she bites down, “That sounds like a plan but um, I think it’s important to have Hen there when we tell family, if that’s okay? I… she’s family, too. I wouldn’t have coped in those early months with Rose without her and I know this will mean a lot to her.”

“Sounds good to me.” Maddie shrugs, between bites, “Bobby and Eddie won’t be upset?”

“They’ll understand.”

“Let’s just keep it for us, right now though. We won’t ever get this time back.” It’s easy to find his hands dropping to her stomach, the grin on his face wide as he nods his head. She was thirteen weeks pregnant but he could start to see and feel the slight curve of her stomach already, excitement growing when he thinks of witnessing every single up and down of pregnancy. The getting up at two in the morning because she’s craving something random and the tears when the hormones become a little too much, then the first time he can feel their baby kick and the joy of seeing Maddie glowing and growing.

“I love both of you.”

“We love you too.”


End file.
